Description
mm/shmem.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.28-rc3, when strict overcommit is enabled, does not properly handle the export of shmemfs objects by knfsd, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and knfsd crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat MRG 1 | kernel-rt +10 | 2.6.24.7-161.el5rt | RHSA-2010:0631 |
Advisories 1
- RHSA-2010:0631 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security and bug fix update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 28, 2026
References
- [oss-security] 20100526 Re: CVE request - kernel: nfsd: fix vm overcommit crash mailing-list
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=731572d39fcd3498702eda4600db4c43d51e0b26
- [oss-security] 20100526 CVE request - kernel: nfsd: fix vm overcommit crash mailing-list
- SUSE-SA:2010:031 vendor-advisory
- MDVSA-2010:198 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=595970
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/v2.6.28/ChangeLog-2.6.28-rc3
- 40645 third-party-advisory
- linux-kernel-knfsd-dos(58957) vdb-entry
- http://vigilance.fr/vulnerability/Linux-kernel-denial-of-service-via-knfsd-9666
- 40377 vdb-entry
- ADV-2010-1857 vdb-entry